Cabal Stomp
by Writer's Pen 77
Summary: Learn how the Cabal nearly destroyed Oryx and brought the Hive to their knees. Hail the Cabal!


"The Cabal Empire, rulers of countless systems, defenders of the Cabal, a check against the Vex, Hive, and Fallen, have their greatest challenge with the Guardians, but no more! Today we invade the City and take it for ourselves, long live the Cabal!" yelled Primus Ta'aun.

"Long live the Cabal!" shouted the Skyburners.

"Today, our species will endure, we will survive," shouted the Primus, "when we were young we were taught of the Darkness, how it crippled us, destroying Colla, but we endured, our empire grew, now these Guardians, a mockery of what we stand for have been actually helping the dark, empowering the Vex, and sowing chaos in not only Mars, but across the system, we will burn their city and-." Alarms went off all over the base, the air tasted of ozone, and the Taken King, Oryx, had appeared, the Taken had arrived, Phobos was being taken.

"Primus, we must leave immediately," yelled Bracus Shelai.

"Nonsense, I refuse to be intimidated by any invaders, let them come," stated Primus Ta'aun, "for the Empire," he shouted as he ran to face the enemy, but what he saw appalled him, Sand eaters, Dust giants, even the Feared Blind Legion were losing, in his mind, he did the only logical thing, "Soldiers of the Empire, we may not win this battle, but we will relocate to Rubicon, let's go now!" he yelled. Harvesters left Phobos en masse, all of them fleeing a power they could barely comprehend.

...

"Guardian, this is Commander Zavala, it appears that the Cabal have broken radio silence, this can only mean one thing, invasion, Tyne, you must stop them, good luck," that ended the transmission.

"Hey Ghost, you as excited as I am?" I asked.

"Of course, it's time to get some payback on those Cabal."

Cabal Stomp plays

"Ghost, what the heck happened here?" I ask as I look around and see all the fiery wreckage, Fleetbase Kuros, the most fortified military base in the system was now desolate and deserted.

"I don't know, it looks like they were attacked but there's no evidence of Vex presence here, no dead Vex, Fallen, or really anyone, just Cabal." A chill ran down my spine as I saw Harvesters leaving in bulk, one of them was staring in my direction, gun primed, but apparently whatever drove them off the base was more concerning than the Guardian that defeated Skolas. All of a sudden an explosion rocked the base and the Harvester fled, that's not good, I thought.

"Commander Zavala, come in," I asked.

"Yes I see it Guardian," he said.

"What are my orders?" I asked.

"Sweep the base, find the source of this attack," he said.

"Yes sir," I replied.

A Cabal soldier was crawling on his belly, begging for mercy, "Ghost, get this one to the ship, he's hurt," I requested.

"I can't" he said, "he's already dead," lubricant welled up in my optical receptors, whoever did this was going to pay dearly, I placed a rose from the Last City near his dying body and left him to die.

"Light, give your will to me!" yelled a projection of an evil looking Hive Knight.

"He is here," Eris Morn whispered into my comms.

With one simple gesture I stuck my middle finger at him, "You want it, you're gonna have to take it."

Angrily he yelled, "This is for Crota!" and with that he disappeared, the air stank of ozone, and blights of Darkness started forming, my Light protected me from their pull, yet it still unnerved me seeing creatures of Darkness spawn all around me. Good thing my Super was activated, in one fell swoop I jumped into the air and smashed into the ground, ripples of arc energy flooded the floor and the enemies dissipated into goo. But my triumph was short lived as more of them kept spawning in.

"Guardian get out of there now!" yelled Zavala, as I ran from flames, and orbs of Darkness.

"You don't need to tell me that," I muttered as I ran away, my Light flooding my body and causing me to rush into the wind. I dodged Knights, Acolytes and Taken Psions as they kept multiplying, somehow I was able to escape and return to my ship.

...

"Primus, we heard about what had happened are you alright?" asked Valus Ta'aurc, as my men ran out of the ship kissing the sands of Mars, some of the enlisted were even crying and I myself shuddered when I remembered what had happened.

"I am shaken but thankful we went to Mars just in time," I replied.

"Well as you know his Imperial Majesty is very furious that the planned invasion of The Last City has failed, it will take decades to rebuild our fleet," he stated, "he has asked that you file a report of the incident and speak to him directly," he sighed, "I salute you and thank you for bringing back my Siege Dancers and with minimum casualties, long live the Empire," and with that he walked off, his aides struggling to keep up with his pace.

"My liege," I said as I knelt before the Emperor's projection.

His voice boomed in an extremely low octave, "Primus Ta'aun, commander of the Skyburners regiment tasked with defending our fleet, how and why was Fleetbase Kuros abandoned and destroyed?"

"My liege, forgive me, but I believe that the one who devastated our home world is the one responsible for this outrage," I replied.

The Emperor suddenly trembled, "Oryx?", he asked.

"Yes, my liege," I replied.

"This is a very grave matter," he said, "I will convene a council with our High Command to gather the highest possible outcome of victory, if Oryx succeeds, then our species is even closer to extinction than we once thought, our species must survive, dismissed," and with that the transmission ended. I quaked in fear remembering what had happened on Phobos, that gave me more fear than speaking to our Emperor the one who singlehandedly defeated three Gate Lords and exterminated the Fallen House of Rain, this was a dark day indeed.

The next day I was brought to the War Room where many prominent generals were stationed, "Primus," they saluted.

"At ease," I replied.

"We have heard reports that Oryx's fleet is located in the rings of Saturn, there was a battle against the Awoken fleet, Oryx's fleet was immobilized, however, the Awoken fleet was utterly decimated and their Queen had fallen, we believe at this moment Petra Venj is now acting regent of the Awoken, it would be best to send our fleet to Oryx's Dreadnaught and eliminate it, unfortunately Oryx's main weapon is still active, making boarding it utterly impossible without a stealth drive, fortunately for us we discovered a Vex Gate network, under the City of Freehold where we believe the Vex have created a stealth drive so potent that even Vex technology can't detect it when active," stated Primus Shlo'outh, leader of the Dust Giants, "unfortunately most of our forces have been routed and with your help we can take the stealth drive and bring the fight to Oryx."

"You ever fought Vex before?" a young Centurion asked me.

"Soldier, I have fought and killed Hydras, Harpies, Cyclopsi, and a Gate Lord at one point, so yes I have experience fighting the Vex," I replied.

"Sir," the pilot of the Harvester reported.

"Yes pilot," I replied.

"It appears that a giant dust storm is headed our way, I'm going to have to drop you off 10 miles from the hot zone," he said.

I swore, "well what about our tanks?" I asked.

"I'm sorry sir, but it looks like our vehicles won't be able to function," he replied.

"Very well, take us down pilot," I ordered.

"Skyburners! Charge!" I ordered as we marched through the sandy plains empowering the Siege Dancers who had already arrived on the scene, "Phalanx advance," I ordered, "Psions, march." Thousands of Vex teleported on our position, Harpies firing bursts of automatic fire, our troops were locked in combat, Goblins were being thrown by Phalanxes, Hydras exploded when confronted by a Collossus' machine gun fire. Yet for every Vex unit we destroyed 3 more would arrive, this would be another fight of attrition, I thought, unless, we could find the Network controlling these Vex, their Axis Mind. Then we found it, a giant Hydra, disintegrating Cabal left and right, protected by its rotating shields absorbing slugs without damage, then I pointed at it and yelled, "fight with honor!"

It turned its red oculus towards me and chuckled, "you first!" it said. I prepped my Exodus-13 Heavy Assault Weapon and gave it a barrage of Heavy Machine gun fire, its shields deflected many of my bullets but a chunk went into its titanium chassis, with an agonizing cry it yelled and just as it was about to shoot me a round of mortar fire obliterated it completely, the remaining Vex units teleported safely away from the battle.

"Skyburners, hoorah!" I cried, cheers went all around, we lost a good chunk of our men, but we did not lose a plurality, of our 50,000 units, we lost 2,000 Phalanxes, 3,000 Psions, 13 Colossi, 500 Centurions, and 1,300 Legionaries. Tonight we drank and celebrated, for tomorrow we were going beneath the Buried City.

"Primus," Valus Mau'aul saluted.

"At ease," I replied to my brother.

"It's been awhile," he said.

"Yes it has," I replied.

"When I heard about Phobos, I was worried that you might not have returned," he replied, "Tlu'urn was furious that he wasn't there when it had happened."

"Trust me," I replied, "the horrors of Phobos are those I would never dream of wishing even on Guardians," I responded.

"All the same, Tlu'urn and I will have your back, no matter what," he said.

"Thank you brother, and be sure to give my gratitude to Tlu'urn as well," I replied. After that, I received a message from the Cabal Emperor, below is the official transcript.

...

Sender: His Imperial Highness, Caesar Til'kit

Recipient: Primus Ta'aun, Skyburners C&C

Date Received: 25 Arte, 789 AC

Message:

Greetings, Primus, we in our council have deliberated and request that you lead the Skyburners regiment in the fight against Oryx, our intelligence reports Oryx's Dreadnaught is stationed in the rings of Saturn, sovereign territory of the Nine, we also believe that the Nine lack the proper resources to attempt boarding the Dreadnaught, it is also believed that Guardians may be forming a plan to board the Dreadnaught, under no circumstances should they be allowed to take the Dreadnaught, Oryx, while powerful is not invincible, we believe that he uses ruptures to communicate with the rest of his forces from the Ascendant Realm, you must capture these ruptures using any means necessary. This is a direct order, failure to comply equates to high treason, and I will see to it that you are executed if you so choose to disobey. In the event of failure in achieving your objective, it is imperative that the Dreadnaught be destroyed so that the rest of the system is spared of Oryx, although doing so is a last resort option only, crash the Dantalion Exodus IX into the Dreadnaught, again, this is a direct order and failure to comply equates with high treason. It should also be stated that destroying the Dreadnaught will utterly destroy the Jovian worlds and the Reef, again this is a last resort option, do not under any circumstances attempt this course of action unless directly authorized. Thank you for your service.

Your Emperor,

Caesar Til'kit

...

I was stunned, shocked even, that the Emperor questioned my loyalty to the Empire. Since my very conception, arrangements were made, I was privileged, not a claim easily made in the Empire, where the vast majority were born into factory work, those that wished to climb up the ranks enlisted in the armed forces for a better life, but I chose to join because I owed it to those Psions and lower caste Cabal, I would be their mentor and guide them through the darkest days. I served my soldiers well, leading them against multiple Vex offensives and securing countless bases for the Empire. In fact, I was so good that Valus Ta'aurc once said that if he was Mars' conqueror, then I was its defender. If the Emperor wanted loyalty, I would be the fiercest soldier to walk this sandy rock, I joined the military out of a sense of duty, I would not fail.

The next day, we received reports that the sand storm had died down, our tanks could now freely operate outside of Freehold, however, if I knew the Vex, they would be prepared for any contingency. As I walked out of my tent, I knew that something was wrong, my instincts told me to duck, and I did just in time too, a Hobgoblin's sniper blazed through the air, the particle beam narrowly missing my face, I returned fire and the sniper died. I called in backup, and the next thing I knew, Goliath Tanks rounded the corner, the Vex were fighting a losing battle. I climbed into my personal tank, larger than the rest due to my increased size, and led the charge, along the way, we saw wounded Dust Giants fleeing the battle carrying other wounded on stretchers, it made me sick, seeing fellow troops running from the mechanized enemy. When the Giants fled into the safety of the base, I knew what I had to do. I ordered that they be pulled out of the Combat Zone, and receive proper treatment. Interceptors sped by the tanks and were the first to besiege the City, what I saw was shocking, most of the Vex had been, no, it couldn't be, but they were, Taken.

"Alright, men, we are gonna have to this as a stealth op," I decided, "for this mission to succeed, I am sending an elite unit of Psions lead by Commander Shlo'outh, you will retrieve the stealth drive, remember to stay out of sight, I don't want to lose anyone else here to the Blight, am I understood." Three of the Psions stepped up, "I am also sending in a Colossus, just in case this op goes south, am I understood?"

...

Ops Report

Author: Tisk, Psion Operant

Recipient: Primus Ta'aun

Message:

Sir, I regret to inform you that Commander Shlo'outh has been Taken, our Colossus was able to mow down several Taken Goblins, Hobgoblins, Vandals and even a Captain, while the rest of our cloaked team reached the objective, as soon as we entered the location where the stealth drive was hidden, we were ambushed by Taken forces, Shlo'outh was seized trying to defend us and we barely escaped with our lives, fortunately I was able to take the stealth drive when no one was looking.

...

"Sir, the Emperor's spies have detected that Guardian activity has increased in the Cosmodrome, near Rasputin, whatever they're planning, is big," Tlu'urn reported.

"This is irrelevant, the Guardians will never make it, because we are going to beat them to it," I replied, "Gather the men, it's time to slap Oryx and show him what it means to go to war."

"Soldiers of the Empire, to arms, to arms, the fate of our species, Cabal and Psion, are at risk, if Oryx succeeds, the Darkness will consume this system taking not only the Traveler, but the Guardians as well, I can only imagine what horrors will be unleashed not only in this system, but across the Galaxy if Oryx succeeds. Their Light, the Vex influence over time itself, and the Fallen Houses might are all formidable on their own, but twinned to Oryx, would unleash devastation, and I am sad to say our extinction, as a species. We must remain vigilant against this threat and we will win this fight because we are Cabal, we do not give up and we will win! Long live the Cabal!" I shouted.

"Long live the Cabal!" my Skyburners replied. I stepped back and watched as my glorious warship was outfitted with the cloaking technology, watching as soldiers marched off to the frontlines, building fortifications and loading ammo into trucks driving to base, finally after three whole weeks we were ready and we would see Oryx burn.

As we jumped into slipspace, we were surprised at the damage done to the Awoken fleet, we could see broken Ketches, Skiffs, and Galliots, then we saw it the Queen's flagship, The Harbinger, torn in half by the awesome might of Oryx's Dreadnaught, a devastating weapon of which design I had never seen before, "Pilot," I ordered.

"Yes sir?" he replied.

"Can the Dreadnaught detect us," I asked.

"No sir, stealth drive is operating at 100%."

"Good," I smiled, "they won't see us coming, accelerate at full speed, head for the bridge, don't worry about collateral damage, the overshields installed by the Psion Flayers could go through Phobos and not break, we'll be fine." Suddenly, the ship accelerated full throttle and Oryx himself shook as the warship breached through the Hull.

Red lights, check, steam, check. Weapons ready, check. Green light, and the doors open to a screeching army of Thrall, whispering Acolytes, Knights imbued with Hadium based Swords, Wizards fly screaming in their native tongue, and Ogres roar with rage, but all suddenly tremble in terror at the sheer might of the Skyburners. Bullets fly striking Thrall, Slugs impale Wizards, as Heavy weapons fire mows down Knights, even the dreaded Ogres fall to mortar fire, but it isn't enough, for every Thrall killed, every Wizard slain, thousands more claw at the invading military, Blasts of energy rain down on the troops, paralyzing them, causing madness, and suicide, a Thrall's bladed claw steals the life from a Psion, the battle seems lost, until it happens, a Goliath Tank, fully armed and operational, opens fire and in a few seconds completely decimates the Hive. Our troops push back hard crushing all our enemies, our beachhead extends to 50 yards, for every dead Phalanx, we take 100 Thrall, 1 Wizard, 43 Acolytes, and 3 Ogres. Suddenly a Titan covered in head to toe of shining silver armor attacks, completely devastating Hive forces, when it turns its attention to us and destroys our Tank with a custom made missile launcher, after which he sets up a Transmat zone and speeds back to the Tower.

In the aftermath, we lost 5,000 troops, while our enemies lost 200,000, mainly Thrall, our tanks now freely roam the Dreadnaught, crushing resistance as it is encountered. Unfortunately, a lone Guardian entered the mix and ruined everything.

"Sir," a Psion Operant reported in.

"Yes, Lieutenant," I replied.

"We have detected one of these so called ruptures in the Mausoleum, it is heavily defended by Hive and Taken, although it seems that the Guardians have them occupied at the moment," he reported in.

"Good work, I am impressed," I replied, "we will march on this rupture and seize it, I myself will lead the charge."

We prepared to fight the Taken and Hive, I knew what they looked like and what they were capable of, a Cabal expedition to the Moon showed how the Hive liked to torture their enemies, seemingly getting high off of the process, they were sick and we needed to help them, by eliminating the source.

This is the last chapter of Primus Ta'aun, once I am finished, I will be known as Ta'aun, Hand of Oryx. I am Taken, a vessel of the Darkness, molded into perfection by the Taken King, before I die, I would like you, the reader, to understand, how and why this took place.

I led the charge against the Ascendant Realm with a small group of Legionaries and Centurions, as we marched on to the Portal we fired on many Knights Wizards, and Acolytes, suppressing fire from my Heavy Assault Weapon rained on the enemy and as I approached the portal, I was Taken. The Darkness consumed me and I became a willing vassal of the Taken King.


End file.
